Sociologists including other social scientists commonly attribute most of the behavioral variations between male and female to socialization. Socialization refers to the process of transmitting norms, morals, behaviors, and beliefs to group members in the society. Socialization takes place during childhood when adults of a specific culture group give instructions regarding behavior to growing children so that they can conform to social norms. During this process, gender is involved; children are taught on how to behave socially in regard to their assigned gender, determined at birth depending on their biological sex (Kan et al., 2011, p.235). Social norms are unrecorded rules about behavior which provide people with guidelines on expectations of their behavior in relation to a given social group or culture. This concept generates a basis for comprehending social influence as well as conformity to social norms. Gender stereotype refers to the oversimplified idea linked to a particular gender (boys or girls) in relation to social roles.
Social roles refer to the part played by individuals as a result of belonging to a particular social group. Hence, individuals' social roles change to suit the expectation of people about the role. Also, people learn what is good or bad for both male and female through the process of socialization. This paper focuses on how social groups mediate traditional gender roles in the society including the impact of their beliefs towards gender roles on young persons. According to Kan et al. (2011, p.239) gender socialization entails learning the social prospects and beliefs associated with an individual's sex. Socialization theory, through gender socialization, explains the reasons for variations in human male and female behavior and why they learn varied social roles.
Socialization Theory versus Social Norms and Gender Stereotypes
According to the socialization theory, gender socialization begins even prior to a child's birth, whereby the parents are often concerned about the child's sex. This marks the start of a social classification process that carries on throughout life. In the contemporary society, it is believed that majority of the gender differences are as a result of variations in socialization, rather than hereditary as well as natural factors (Eagly et al., 2010, p.128). Moreover, gender stereotyping is an effect of gender socialization. Boys and girls are anticipated to behave in specific ways, which are socialized by parents and society as well beginning at birth. For instance, girls are anticipated to be neat and quiet, whereas boys are untidy and loud. As these children mature, gender stereotypes get more superficial in dressing styles as well as choice for relaxation activities. Boys and girls who are reluctant to conform to gender stereotypes are normally detested by their age-group peers. These can negatively impact on these children, especially by lowering their self-esteem. In Western societies, people are socialized into perceiving their gender as either male or female (masculine or feminine). Therefore, identities are normatively determined along this single constraint.
In fact, gender stereotype signifies the society's joint knowledge about norms, customs, values, myths, and beliefs. Through this knowledge, people develop beliefs about a particular social group. Sociologists argue that stereotypes are one segment of people's social knowledge, which influences their social behavior. An individual's beliefs affects stereotypes via the received information from other sources like parents, friends, educators, administrative and spiritual leaders, including the mass media. The major aspects of gender stereotypes include dressing styles, hairstyle, behavior, occupations as well as weights. Hochschild and Machung (1989, p.6) elucidates that, girls are linked to household chores such as cleaning and cooking while boys are linked to out-of-house activities like mowing lawns and taking out the garbage. Schrock and Schwalbe (2009, p.278) argue that although male and female vary in nature, life encounters strengthen or refutes those variations. This can be explained by differential socialization, which postulates that boys are girls are taught varying suitable behavior in regard to their gender.
According to Schrock and Schwalbe (2009, p.286), traditional gender roles assist in supporting gender stereotypes, for instance, males are perceived to be exploratory, emphatic, aggressive, autonomous as well as task-oriented, while the female is conceived of being highly sensitive, calm, reliant, passionate as well as people-oriented. In terms of education, males are anticipated to take sciences and calculus while the female should take arts and humanities. Traditionally, the male was expected to provide means of livelihood for their folks, be violent and take charge of their families. The female was linked to household chores, being submissive and weak. In the contemporary society, these gender stereotypes suffuse society. Social norms are crucial in comprehending both the language of a given group and the specific members of those groups. Through the social norms and roles generated in a person's culture, certain beliefs regarding stereotyped groups emerge. Also, conformity influences social behavior. Shared group beliefs upheld by every member of the group affects normative behavior. The language also gives a fundamental mechanism by which people are classified into groups, including the means by which stereotypes are shared by others. The role of language in regard to stereotypes results to a direct emphasis on the content of category labels as well as stereotypes.
The socialization theory can be used to predict gendered norms and social behaviors in individual's adult life not only in the private but also in the public sphere. For instance, during adolescent socialization, boys are socialized into out-of-house activities such as looking after the cattle. At adulthood, it is expected that male should always go out to look for the family's livelihood. Moreover, during socialization, the female are socialized into non-violent activities. This, in turn, affects their career choice in the public sphere. For instance, the females are conceived to do well in white collar jobs like secretarial where physical force is not necessary. Furthermore, Eagly et al. (2010, p.157) postulates that there has been a substantial disparity in gender roles over cultures as well as historical spans. Sociologists claim that boys and girls acquire knowledge on how to accomplish their biologically assigned gender through specific behaviors and beliefs. They also focus on the environmental factors that influence gender roles as well as the effect of socialization, including the process of transmitting norms, values, behavior, and attitudes to social groups. The socialization theory suggests that the social structure is the fundamental force in differentiating genders and that sex-differentiated behavior is a result of the division of labor between the two genders in society. This division generates gender roles leading to a gender-based social behavior.
Conclusion
The socialization theory is a significant approach to understanding social behavior in society as it lays the basis of explaining variation in gendered roles. Gender stereotyping is an effect of gender socialization whereby boys and girls are anticipated to behave in specific ways, which are socialized by parents and society as well beginning at birth. There is significant force to abide by social roles whereby many people conform to procedures generated by the roles they execute. Therefore, the socialization theory can be used to predict gendered norms and social behaviors in individual's adult lives not only in the private but also in the public spheres.
References
Eagly, A.H., Wood, W. and Diekman, A.B., 2010. Social role theory of sex differences and similarities: A current appraisal. The developmental social psychology of gender, pp.123- 174.
Hochschild, A. & Machung, A., 1989.The second shift: Working families and the revolution at home. New York: Penguin.
Kan, M.Y., Sullivan, O. & Gershuny, J., 2011. Gender convergence in domestic work: Discerning the effects of interactional and institutional barriers from large-scale data. Sociology, 452, pp.234-251.
Schrock, D. & Schwalbe, M., 2009. Men, masculinity, and manhood acts. Annual review of sociology, 35, pp.277-295.
